Paranoid personalities. How can a psychologist or coach work with such clients?

Persecution mania (in one word, paranoia, scientifically correctly called persecutory delusion of persecution) is an acute mental disorder in which the patient experiences the conviction that a certain person or group of people wants to harm his health or take his life.

Most often, most paranoid people consider their relatives, neighbors, work colleagues, secret organizations, and aliens to be pests.

A person with persecution mania becomes withdrawn, suspicious, overly anxious, and unable to adequately assess himself and the environment.

Patients with this type of mental disorder can contact law enforcement agencies in order to warn about their fears, concerns, anxieties and save their lives. Most often, anxiety is excessive and not supported by objective data.

However, there are cases when a person was actually monitored. One striking example is the American writer Ernest Hemingway, who was actually monitored by American intelligence agencies. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully verify all reports of surveillance.

Persecutory delusions are one of the most common forms of mental disorders. Psychiatrist Vladimir Bekhterev diagnosed Joseph Stalin with a severe form of paranoia, talking about the spread of persecution mania among people in power.

Provoking causes: hypotheses and theories

The exact reasons that provoke the development of persecution mania are unknown. To date, only hypotheses have been put forward about the influence of various factors on the human psyche:

• hereditary predisposition to mental illness;
• features of the organization of the central nervous system;
• suffered psycho-emotional traumas - most psychiatrists’ works note that people who have experienced violence or excessive fear suffer from paranoid delusions;
• poisoning with alcohol and its surrogates, which has a negative effect on the human brain and psyche (depending on a person’s psychotype, alcohol to one degree or another increases anxiety and creates mental disorders);
• taking narcotic drugs;
• poisoning with neurotoxic drugs;
• the presence of a victim complex - in this case, the patient feels like a victim and tries to shift some of the responsibility from himself and blame others for his failures;
• stress;
• brain damage by Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease;
• consequences of stroke;
• unfavorable psycho-emotional atmosphere in the family and at work.

Release your guard

Here is a technique that people use in therapeutic courses. Write down problems and possible fears in a negative thinking journal. Allow yourself just 20 minutes of pure time a day to worry about your spouse's infidelity. Negative journal entries like these can help reduce your anxiety. Remember to balance these 20 minutes with positive actions, such as positive affirmations.

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Paranoid people prefer to keep their ears open; they believe that other people are constantly trying to humiliate them, hurt them, harm them in some way, or threaten them. As a rule, they have unfounded beliefs and habits. However, feelings of guilt or mistrust interfere with the ability to form close relationships. Try not to look for only flaws in other people, try not to think about worst-case scenarios every second. Notice the positive traits in others.

Paranoid people - how they feel and how they look from the outside

Persecutory mania can be identified thanks to characteristic clinical symptoms and signs of delusional ideas. Strange behavior is noted, the patient begins to complain of excessive anxiety. It seems to him that he is constantly being watched, his letters are being opened, his accounts on social networks are being hacked.

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Most often, persecution mania is diagnosed in older people who have experienced various brain lesions (stroke, head injury, hemorrhage).

An elderly man feels that his relatives want him dead. The patient may also complain that unreal creatures (vampires, werewolves, aliens) may be following him.

The patient correlates any failures in his life with the activities of ill-wishers who continuously monitor him and cause harm.

Anxiety is at first episodic in nature, but later becomes permanent and causes a person to constantly experience stress and torment others with his anxiety and worry. There is the inventing of various facts about actually occurring events and their distortion.

A person is in constant readiness to repel imaginary attacks from imaginary enemies. Sick people may be afraid to perform various everyday activities, for example, crossing the road, turning on electrical appliances, etc.

Delusions of persecution are characterized by constant anxiety, expressed in constant anticipation of negative tragic events (bankruptcy, serious illness, death). There may be a change in thinking that becomes more thorough. All details and details of surveillance and attempts on the patient’s life are described. However, the stories do not have a clear structure; minor points are emphasized.

Most often, paranoid delusions are accompanied by overvalued ideas that completely take over the person. There is the formation of erroneous ideas that displace human consciousness.

Any form of criticism is not accepted at all; it seems to the patient that all the words and actions of those around him are aimed at harming him.

There are also difficulties with adaptation in the social environment. Interaction between people becomes difficult.

Focus on the present moment

Spending more time focusing on the present (both emotionally and physically) will reduce the symptoms of self-blame. Think about what are the thoughts that cause destructive emotions? Learn to recognize these sensations; in the future, this will give you the opportunity to act more consciously.

Without awareness that focuses your attention on the present moment, the ability to respond appropriately will be lost. A prerequisite for behavior change is identifying the causes of paranoia. These behaviors in romantic relationships may be better understood within the framework of attachment theory. When you know your love style, you will work from that knowledge.

Stages of development and immersion in your fictional world

Persecution mania develops gradually in three stages, each of which has its own symptoms and signs:

1. The first stage is characterized by the presence of primary signs of the development of paranoia. Closedness, excessive worry, and increased levels of anxiety begin to appear.
2. In the second stage, symptoms increase. Behavior becomes more restless, the person is unable to interact with others and adapt to society. Fear becomes a constant companion, and open complaints against others begin.
3. At the third stage , uncontrollable signs of aggression begin and severe depression develops. A special category of patients may attempt suicide due to fears and depression. Behavior becomes suspicious and wary. There is a lack of trust in the people around you. There may be a misinterpretation of current events. The patient does unusual things that are completely inconsistent with everyday habits. It should be especially emphasized that all the thoughts of an individual are concentrated on his exceptional personality and the particularity of his significance for society. Also characteristic is the desire for self-isolation, aimed at limiting the influence of the environment.

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At the initial stage of development, persecution mania looks quite harmless, but already during this period the disorder prevents a person from living a full life. Living in constant fear and tension, the patient provokes the development of other mental and somatic diseases. It is especially difficult for relatives and other people who surround such a person.

Don't spend your minutes waiting alone

If you are at home all alone, the minutes before your chosen one returns will seem like real torture. Left alone with your thoughts, you will become a slave to them and develop even more paranoia. To take your mind off things, plan a meeting with friends. Talk to them about anything, even about your fears.

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How to behave to others?

First of all, it is necessary to help a sick person understand his problem and convince him to see a psychotherapist. It is very important to find a specialist who will find an approach to such a patient. The success of treatment and the emotional state of the patient largely depend on the level of trust in psychotherapists and psychiatrists.

You should also monitor the intake and dosage of medications prescribed by your doctor.

It is necessary to be patient and try to provide a favorable psycho-emotional atmosphere. There is no need to show excessive anxiety and negative reactions; all these actions encourage retaliatory attacks of aggression.

Relatives of a patient diagnosed with persecution mania should put themselves in the patient’s shoes, so if a person believes that some secret organization wants to kill him, then there is no need to convince him of the opposite.

Be open if repairing the relationship is your goal.

In the event that your partner has indeed had an affair and you both want to save the relationship, an open heart and an open mind are two necessary ingredients for success. Don't be afraid to seek help from a professional psychologist. Specialists have many years of experience in counseling people who find themselves in difficult life situations; they successfully help partners change their attitude towards each other (especially in the area of ​​thoughts and feelings).

[edit] Symptoms

SUDDENLY, there are a lot of thoughts in your head, thousands of them, forming an overvalued/delusional idea. All events are perceived by the patient as directed towards him, filled with deep meaning and interpreted in confirmation of a highly valuable idea, while those that contradict it are ignored. Actually, distrust and suspicion, as well as determination and pathological confidence in one’s rightness.

If paranoia acts as a symptom of schizophrenia, then the patient may begin to shoot at his imaginary enemies, which could be you, anon.

Life without panic attacks and VSD. 5 tips for prevention

Alas, medicine does not know exactly why panic attacks occur, so the ways to combat them are rather general recommendations, which, however, will help you avoid attacks in the future.

1. Don't lead a sedentary lifestyle. There is a scientific assumption that the occurrence of attacks is associated with a lack of endorphins, which our body produces during physical activity. Therefore, even light aerobic training and walking can make your life much easier.
2. Try not to be nervous. Yes, we know that this recommendation sounds ridiculous - how can you not be nervous when life is so difficult? But, alas, calmness and only calmness will save you from panic attacks and other ailments.
3. Don't drink coffee or reduce your intake. Caffeine in large quantities causes a rapid heartbeat and can trigger a panic attack at the most unexpected moment.
4. Be careful with alcohol. Alcoholic drinks, like any pathogen, can cause unexpected reactions in the body, including causing an attack.
5. Also be careful with medications. Analyze whether a panic attack is associated with taking a new drug? Sometimes medications can trigger panic attacks, so check with your doctor.